


Hard Times, Gonna Make You Wonder Why You Even Try

by Supamonkey



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Alpha Derek Hale, Always Female Stiles Stilinski, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, Spark Stiles Stilinski
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-11-24 13:32:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18165845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supamonkey/pseuds/Supamonkey
Summary: Derek returns to Beacon Hills to find things not exactly as he left them. Scott controls the pack with an iron thumb, and while Stiles and Lydia try to fight back against his tyrannical regime it's almost impossible when there are other things at play. Stiles feels like she's losing her mind until the day that Derek arrives back in town. Can Derek and his pack help Stiles and Lydia stop Scott, before it's too late? (I might update the summary as I continue this story)I do not give permission for a part or whole of this work to be displayed or discussed anywhere but on A03. Thank you.





	1. Chapter 1

**STILES**

  
Stiles phone buzzed for the fourth time in five minutes. This text rang with the obnoxious alarm tone that Scott had set on her phone.

Groaning she sat up from her bed and reached with a lazy hand over to her bedside table, grabbing her phone just before she managed to knock it to the floor.  
Her eyes took a moment to adjust as her phone screen lit up for a fifth time, the speaker ringing out Scott’s tone again.

In the past two years Scott had expanded the pack to include twelve members, including Stiles and Lydia. Stiles didn’t know what had happened or when it had happened or why, but over the past couple of years Scott had become a tyrant. He ran the pack with an iron fist, alpha order after alpha order, no questioning, no suggesting, no stepping out of line.  
It had all started with the texts. The demands that had to be fulfilled under pain of punishment.

Now it wasn’t unusual to find what had happened this morning. Five texts in quick succession. All of his texts basically said the same thing.

Pack meeting in an hour. Everyone to attend. Non-negotiable.

Scott seemed to forget that some people had a job, like the one at the diner that Stiles owned, which she had to get to for the same time Scott wanted to meet.

She swiped out of the group pack text and opened the one below it, a message she had received nearly two weeks ago now. She had the contact saved under SW, so that if Scott took her phone off her again to check who she was talking to he wouldn’t know who it was.

The text simply showed a picture of a map of California with a thick black line drawn across the state, ending in Beacon Hills. No words, but Stiles knew what the message meant. The text made Stiles smile softly.

She had been sending pictures back and forth with the number for almost two years, ever since things in Beacon Hills went downhill. She always got a reply, no matter how long she had to wait. It was a lifeline she had found herself clinging to more than once.

A knock on Stiles’ bedroom door drew her attention as Lydia stepped into her room.

‘I’m guessing you got Scott’s text,’ she said. ‘I sent him a message reminding him you have work so he’s not expecting you there.’

‘I wasn’t going to go even if he was,’ Stiles said, standing and walking over to her bathroom to get ready.

‘You know you shouldn’t aggravate him,’ Lydia said.

‘I know,’ Stiles said as she stepped out of her bathroom again, raising her right wrist and shaking it in the direction of her bed where Lydia was sitting.

Lydia’s eyes landed on the silver suppression cuff that adorned her skin, wincing.

‘We just need to wait,’ Lydia said. ‘Once he’s back everything will fall into place. It’s just about patience, waiting it out.’

‘That’s easy for you to say Lyds,’ Stiles said, grabbing a pair of jeans and plain jumper to pull on. ‘You don’t have this thing on you, put there by the one person you thought would never betray you.’

‘I know,’ Lydia said, softly, her voice full of sadness. ‘But you’ve worn it for eight months now, you can wear it for a bit longer.’

Stiles pulled on her converse before grabbing her car keys and heading downstairs, Lydia following closely behind.

She filled a water bottle and slipped it into her bag with her purse and a banana.

‘I’ve got to get to work,’ she said, heading for the door.

‘What about breakfast?’ Lydia asked.

‘I’m not hungry,’ she shouted in reply.

‘You need to eat Stiles,’ Lydia called. ‘You’re skinny enough as it is.’

‘I will at some point,’ Stiles shouted. ‘Promise,’ before slamming the door of the house her and Lydia owned together before jumping in the jeep and driving away.


	2. Chapter 2

**DEREK**

Beacon Hills looked the same. It surprised Derek every time he returned to his childhood town. Nothing ever seemed to change. The roads were the same, the shops they passed, the people they saw. Derek could never tell if it was the town staying the same, him changing or a bit of both that always gave him the mixture of feelings between nostalgia and utter hatred when he drove past the _Welcome to Beacon Hills_ sign.

‘We should stop for coffee before we head to the house,’ Cora piped up from the passenger seat.

‘Ugh coffee would be a wonderful thing right about now,’ Isaac said from the backseat where he was cramped with both Jackson and another one of Derek’s betas, Milo.

Milo closed his eyes for a moment, communicating with his sister, Milena, in the car behind that held Derek’s other four betas, Sara, Daniel, Tylen and Miguel. After a few moments Milo smiled and said, ‘everyone else agrees Derek. Looks like you’ve been outvoted on the coffee front Alpha.’

Derek groaned. He liked coffee. He didn’t like coffee shops or diners. Too many smells and too many people.

‘There’s apparently a new diner opened on main street,’ Cora said, typing away furiously on her phone. ‘It has really great reviews.’

‘Lead the way,’ Derek said gruffly as Cora began to give him directions.

He ended up pulling the Toyota into a parking space outside of a small, cosy looking diner as Milena pulled the Camaro in the space beside him. They all poured out of the cars and towards the front door of a place with the name _Babcia’s_ written across the doorway.

The smell of coffee and breakfast and spices wafted up Derek’s nose as he stepped into the place. The smell of cinnamon was especially strong, making something in Derek’s chest tighten. Inside the diner was clean and homey. Small tables with brightly coloured chairs were dotted around the room.

There were a few other patrons in, and a waitress standing at one of the tables taking orders.

‘Take a seat and I’ll be right with you,’ she called over her shoulder, and all the pack set about moving tables to sit at as Derek, Cora, Jackson and Isaac stood staring at each other.

‘Are you guys going to take a seat or just stare at each other all day?’ Sara asked from where the pack had pushed together a couple of tables at the window.

Derek, Cora, Jackson and Isaac all moved as if they were in a daze, Derek’s eyes never leaving the waitress.

His breath caught in his throat as the waitress turned to their table and froze.

Stiles was just as beautiful as the day Derek and Cora had left. Her amber eyes bright as the took in the pack.

She walked towards them, writing something on her pad as she did. When she reached the table Derek could see the brightness in her eyes was unshed tears. She ripped a piece of paper off her pad and laid it on the table in front of Derek as she asked the table if they were ready to order.

Derek picked up the paper and read the note she had written.

_Two of the pack members work here so don’t act as if you recognise me. A lot has changed since you were here last. I can tell you everything, but not here._

Derek looked back up at Stiles and caught something in her gaze when it flicked to him, something that made the knot in his stomach tighten. Fear.

He passed the note to Cora, who passed it to Isaac and then on to Jackson. They all looked puzzled but nodded to Derek and Stiles to tell them they understood.

She took their orders and headed to the kitchen where Derek listened in on her giving the orders to who he assumed were the two pack members.

Positive that they were occupied he turned to his pack and said quickly, ‘I’ll explain why later, but do not speak of pack business while we are here.’

Every member picked up the seriousness in his voice and all nodded their agreement as Stiles brought back the first plates of food.

The pack ate, chatting about idle and insignificant things, but Derek couldn’t take his eyes off of Stiles. There was a tense weight on her shoulders that never seemed to leave as she scurried around the place. As she passed their table again Derek couldn’t help but notice the dark circles under her eyes and the tiredness in her frame. She seemed older than before, the ease in her laughter put on and the smile on her face never quite reaching her eyes. But there was something else as well, something missing in her personality, in her scent, something that put Derek’s wolf on edge.

Half an hour later and Derek asked for the bill. Stiles brought it over, taking Derek’s credit card and going through the motions easily. When she handed back the card, she grabbed his hand lightly, slipping something else into his palm.

‘Hope to see you soon,’ she said in a way that made it sound like a normal diner goodbye.

Derek nodded, the pack standing and following him back out to the cars. Once inside the safety of his seat he opened his palm to find a folded piece of paper. Unfolding it he found another note.

_I hope when we meet this time it won’t be for goodbye. 8pm tonight._

The words sent a chill through Derek, making him shiver.

‘What on earth was going on with her?’ Cora asked as Derek pulled out onto the road, heading for the old Hale House.

‘I don’t know,’ Derek said, his hands clenching on the steering wheel. ‘But I intend to find out.’


	3. Chapter 3

**STILES**

Stiles had nearly passed out when she had come face to face with Derek again. The hope she had been clinging onto had swelled in her chest, but she had stamped on it fairly quickly, using the walk over to the table to write a warning for Derek about Ryan and Robert in the kitchen. He had agreed instantly, despite the lack of explanation, a characteristic Stiles hadn’t remembered Derek having. Patience. Trust.

She had bounced through her day, her nerves wearing down to their very end by the time her day was over. Ryan and Robert hadn’t seemed to suspect anything. All Stiles could hope for was that Derek had understood her note to meet when and where she had told him goodbye nearly five years ago.

She waited in anticipation in the kitchen at home for Lydia to get back from the part time work she did at the local college. When the front door slammed she shouted, ‘I’m in here Lyds and you won’t believe the day I had!’

Lydia came into the kitchen and took the mug of coffee Stiles had poured for her.

‘And what made it such a great day?’ Lydia asked, taking a sip.

Stiles was practically bouncing up and down as she said, ‘Derek’s back.’

Lydia slammed her mug on the kitchen counter slightly too hard, some of the coffee sloshing out onto the worktop.

‘He’s finally back?’ Lydia said in disbelief.

Stiles nodded frantically, tears rolling down her face as she sobbed with happiness.

‘And he’s brought a pack with him. There’s nine of them including him.’

Lydia nodded and she said, ‘almost even numbers with Scott’s pack. Add to that the fact that the magic in this land is loyal to the Hales and they’ll be a pretty strong presence here in Beacon Hills.’

‘Scott’s going to find out he’s here eventually,’ Stiles said, worry suddenly clouding her head. ‘When he does he won’t just roll over and let them have Beacon Hills.’

‘And he’s not going to let them stay,’ Lydia said, looking Stiles in the eye. ‘When Scott finds out that Derek’s back he’ll declare war, because there’s no way that Derek’s going to leave now.’

Stiles nodded.

‘We need to warn him what he’s getting himself into,’ Lydia said.

‘I’ve set up a meet with him,’ Stiles said. ‘I managed to slip him a note at the diner, so Ryan and Robert wouldn’t find out they were there. I’ve told him to meet me at the preserve at eight.’

‘Good,’ Lydia said. ‘Maybe now we can end Scott’s reign of terror once and for all.’


	4. Chapter 4

**STILES**

Just over an hour later found Lydia and Stiles finally making their way through the preserve. They had to wait until the shift change at the Sheriff’s station so that the deputy pack members wouldn’t spot Stiles’ distinctive blue jeep heading for the preserve and report back to Scott. It meant that by the time they started walking to the lake where Stiles had said goodbye to Derek, they were late.

‘Stop fidgeting,’ Lydia hissed, pulling her jacket closer to her shoulders as they walked.

‘I’m sorry,’ Stiles whispered back. ‘I just… I.’

Lydia pulled Stiles into a sideway hug and said, ‘I know.’

The rest of their walk was silent, except for the occasional snapping of twigs and rustle of leaves under their feet.

As they got closer to the lake Stiles could begin to hear the sound of people chatting and she couldn’t help the small smile that broke out on her face at the sound.

They rounded the last of the trees to reveal a clearing where the Hale pack were standing huddled together, talking away. The sight made Stiles pause, her heart seizing slightly in her chest.

‘You took your time coming back,’ Lydia said as they approached, drawing the Hale pack’s attention.

Stiles was shocked when Derek sent a small smile in Lydia’s direction before Cora piped up and said, ‘well we had some vacation time, thought we might as well use it up.’

‘And build your pack apparently,’ Lydia said, as Cora pulled her into a hug.

‘Well we weren’t going to take Jax at first,’ Isaac said, ‘but when he turned up on Derek’s doorstep from London with a sad puppy face and begged to be a member of the pack, Derek couldn’t say no.’

‘I didn’t beg,’ Jackson groused, making Stiles smile a bit.

‘No, you’re right,’ Lydia said. ‘We all know you’re more of a groveler.’

Cora outright cackled at the statement as Jackson went bright red.

‘So, who else is in this new pack of yours Derek?’ Lydia asked, turning to the other five people.

‘My first beta was Sara,’ Derek said, pointing to the girl with blonde curly hair that reminded Stiles of Erica. ‘She was an omega we found in New York, joined us not long after Isaac tracked us down when he returned from France. A couple of months later Jackson turned up again, and you’re right Lydia, there was a bit of grovelling.’

Jackson made a sound of indignation that Derek ignored.

‘Next was the twins, Milo and Milena. They turned up on our doorstep, running from Arkansas. Witches kicked out of their coven for nefarious behaviour.’

‘Hey,’ the girl, Milena, said. ‘Just because they find blowing up abandoned cars with magic to be nefarious doesn’t mean we did. They just had really sharp sticks up their asses.’

Derek shook his head, as if used to dealing with Milena’s type of humour.

‘And the next two were Daniel and Miguel. Miguel is a werewolf and when we found them Daniel had been staying with Miguel’s pack. They were kicked out of Miguel’s parent’s pack after they found out not only that Daniel was a Kitsune, but also that they were in a relationship together.’

‘And now we are part of the best pack I could ever hope for,’ Miguel said, his voice soft.

‘Well I’m Lydia Martin,’ Lydia said. ‘Beacon Hill’s resident Banshee and this is my friend and housemate, Stiles Stilinski, Beacon Hill’s resident Spark.’

Lydia stepped out of the way of where she had been shielding Stiles from view. Milena’s eyes travelled to Stiles and a smile spread over her face, lighting it up.

‘Now the broody eyebrows ever since the diner make sense,’ Milena squealed, turning to Derek. ‘Stiles! That Stiles?!’

Derek rolled his eyes as the tips of his ears went pink.

‘Oh,’ Sara said, practically jumping for joy. ‘The Stiles you always talk about!’

Stiles laughed a little, turning to Derek.

‘You talk about me?’ she said, raising an eyebrow.

‘I…I…’ Derek stuttered. ‘I may have mentioned you a few times.’

‘Don’t let him fool you Stiles,’ Cora said, pulling her into a hug like she had Lydia. ‘He’s always reading and re-reading your text messages. I’ve seen him laugh more in the past few months when you’ve been texting him than I have in his whole life.’

‘Plus, he gets this cute little frown line in his forehead when he’s trying to think of a good reply to them,’ Isaac chipped in, and Derek’s ears went a deeper shade of red.

‘Sorry to interrupt your catch-up,’ Milo said. ‘But if I’m not mistaken Lydia said you were a Spark?’

‘That’s right,’ Stiles said, her brows furrowing.

‘Are you sure she’s right?’

Stiles glanced at Lydia and back at Milo before saying, ‘yes, we’re fairly certain.’

‘I’m sorry for the questioning,’ Milo said, his face softening slightly from suspicion to friendliness. ‘It’s just that I can’t sense any magic on you. As a witch and you a Spark I should be able to at least feel some kind of aura.’

‘Oh,’ Stiles said, suddenly on edge. ‘That’s probably because of this.’

Stiles shucked off her jacket and rolled up the sleeve of her jumper to reveal a thin bracelet. Milo sucked in a breath and Milena let out a shocked sound and slapped her hand over her mouth before reaching out to grasp Stiles’ wrist gently. She hissed when she touched the metal of the bracelet, as if it hurt her.

‘What is it?’ Derek asked, a confused look on his face.

Milena looked at him and held out her hand and said, ‘Give me your hand.’

He laid his hand in hers and she closed her eyes, concentrating. A few seconds later Derek’s eyes flashed red before he shut them and took a step back, shaking his head.

‘ _What is that?_ ’ he growled, opening his eyes again, staring at the cuff.

‘What did it feel like to you?’ Milo asked softly from behind his sister.

Derek let out a deep breath through his nose before answering. Stiles watched him carefully from where Milena was still holding her wrist.

‘Like a void. Like my wolf just disappeared from my head. What is it?!’

Before anyone could answer Stiles sighed, pulling her wrist out of Milena’s grasp and putting her jacket back on.

‘It’s a long story,’ she said.

‘Maybe we should go back to the house, so you can tell it,’ Cora said. ‘It’ll be warmer, and we have food and drink. I get the feeling we should at least be comfortable to hear this.’

Stiles nodded in agreement and Derek mirrored her movements.

Lydia and Stiles followed the pack as they walked through the preserve. Everyone was silent, but it was comfortable, almost normal.

It didn’t take very long for them to reach the old Hale House and Stiles was taken aback when she saw it.

Where there was once a burnt-out husk there was now a fully rebuilt house. Some of the windows were glowing from where lights had been left on, and Stiles could see smoke curling out of the chimney as if there was a fire on inside.

‘You rebuilt it?’ Stiles breathed as they walked across the front yard and past the cars.

‘We made the plans a couple of years ago and have had builders and interior designers here for the past ten months,’ Derek said. ‘I sent you the text with the map the day that I got the call to say the house was done. That was the day we started to make our way home.’

Derek ushered Stiles through the front door with the rest of the pack and Lydia.

The inside of the house was homey and cosy, not at all what Stiles would expect from Derek. The whole bottom floor was open plan with a huge kitchen, a lounging area filled with sofas and beanbags and a large table. Stairs on the right-hand side lead to another floor and Stiles knew would hold all the bedrooms. There was a door to her left that she suspected led to a reinforced basement, but she didn’t ask.

Stiles and Lydia were ushered over to the sofas as Daniel and Miguel took drink orders. Stiles sighed when a large cup of rich smelling coffee was placed in her hands.

When Daniel and Miguel sat down Derek turned to Stiles and said, ‘we were talking about that thing on your wrist. I want to know what it is.’

Lydia looked at Stiles who nodded.

‘It’s a suppression cuff,’ Lydia said. ‘I’m guessing when Milena touched you she let you feel what everyone who’s supernatural feels when they touch it, but that’s just a fraction of how it feels to wear one. They were designed by the head elders of the Council of Witches to contain rogue magic users. It’s a way to punish witches without having to imprison them.’

Derek’s eyes flashed red before he looked at Stiles.

‘Why are you wearing one?’ he asked through gritted teeth.

‘Scott,’ Stiles said quietly. ‘I told you that things had changed. I just didn’t tell you how much.’

‘Your Alpha put a suppression cuff on you?!’ Milo said, his voice communicating his disbelief.

‘Well he got his witchy girlfriend to do it, but same difference,’ Stiles said with her usual sarcasm.

‘I think you should start at the beginning,’ Cora said, sitting back and taking a sip of her coffee.

‘Okay,’ Stiles said. ‘I’m not really sure when it started, there isn’t an exact date or anything, but I would say it was about two years ago. We had been dealing with an influx of supernatural creatures because of the Nemeton, but for some reason during the summer two years ago there was a string of incidents in Beacon Hills. I think Scott felt like he was losing control a little bit, so he started to control everything about the pack that he could.’

‘What kind of things was he controlling?’ Derek asked.

‘It started out small,’ Lydia said. ‘He would call pack meetings to see how everyone’s days had been. We didn’t think anything of it at first. Then he started expanding the pack. When he brought in Rachel and Sophia it was great, a magic user and her werewolf sister. Then Scott started dating Rachel. She had his ear. She started telling Scott how he should know as much about each pack member as possible because as the Alpha he was supposed to care for all of us, and how could he do that without knowing our every move. He started controlling everything. Where we went, who we met, who we talked to, the jobs we had.’

‘That’s why you were worried about the two pack members at the diner,’ Cora said, looking at Stiles.

Stiles nodded, glancing down at her hands which she had clenched together, her knuckles white.

‘I own the diner. I bought it after my umm… well my dad was killed in the line of duty almost four years ago now. He didn’t leave much, but there was life insurance and inheritance money my mother had left him, which he left to me for when he died. I used it and some of my savings to open the diner. I just wanted the simple life. Scott thought it best if I had what he called _the protection of the pack_ and had me employ Ryan and Robert as line cooks.’

Jackson sat back, shaking his head and crossing his legs.

‘I knew McCall was an idiot and thought with his dick most of the time. I just didn’t realise how much of an idiot,’ he said.

‘Scott has nine pack members now,’ Stiles said. ‘Rachel is the witch. Her sister Sophia was a witch but was bitten. You can’t be a witch and a wolf. There’s Liam, Scott’s second and first bitten. Corey is a chimera and Mason is his human boyfriend. Theo is a werewolf we knew as kids, we went to school with him.’ Stiles glanced sideways at Lydia who shared the grimace she was wearing. ‘I don’t trust him. Then there’s three more wolves. Ryan, Robert and Shane.’

‘Where did they all come from?’ Daniel asked.

Lydia shrugged and said, ‘here and there. Almost all of them apart from Liam, Corey and Mason were omegas who drifted into the territory, came face to face with the pack and asked to join. Scott’s a bleeding heart when it comes to a sob story.’

‘After the stories of the Alpha Pack’s demise and the Darach that terrorised Beacon Hills a couple came here to join the pack that destroyed them both,’ Stiles said, glancing at Derek. ‘People don’t realise that Scott didn’t do it alone.’

‘What about you two?’ Derek asked. ‘You didn’t include yourself in the pack run down.’

‘That’s where the story of the suppressor cuff comes in,’ Stiles said, sighing.

She looked down at the bracelet, so innocent to the untrained eye, and let out a bitter laugh.

‘Scott and I had been drifting apart for a while. Really since after you and Cora left once we got rid of the Nogitsune. We argued a lot over small and petty things, sometimes not even pack things. One day I had a huge argument with him, just after Rachel and Sophia arrived, about how I thought Rachel was manipulating him. He replied with some snide remark about how I should know about manipulation since I had let the Nogitsune into my brain. I suspected that he blamed me for what the Nogitsune did, for Allison’s death. It was confirmed a year and a half ago when Deaton asked for a pack meeting. He told Scott he was retiring as an emissary. Deaton had been training me for a while, in between me doing some magic myself. I had set up and had been maintaining wards around Beacon Hills and the pack properties for nearly two years by that point. In light of that Deaton recommended Scott pick me as his next Emissary.’

Stiles sighed, trying to blink away the tears that threatened to fall.

‘I knew in my gut he wouldn’t, and I was right. He picked Rachel instead. When I asked him why he told me that he couldn’t trust an Emissary with tainted magic.’

There was a low growl at Stiles’ words and she looked up to find Derek closing his eyes against the red flash of his pupils.

‘He thought the Nogitsune had made you dark?’ Cora asked softly.

Stiles nodded, ‘for some misguided reason he had believed Rachel’s story about possession influencing a magic users ability to use magic for good.’

‘In the case of a witch that would be true,’ Lydia said. ‘Witch’s only have a certain amount of inherent magic and it is almost always tied to a place or person or object. Something like possession could affect their balance. With a Spark it’s different because their power is inherent within them. It’s about belief not magic levels or connections. After he told Stiles that she couldn’t be Emissary because he believed her magic was tainted, she made it clear that she couldn’t submit to an Alpha who didn’t trust her, and I told him the same. Scott still counts us as members of his pack, but technically we broke allegiance that day, so we don’t feel pack bonds anymore.’

‘So, you’re technically, what, packless?’ Sara asked.

Stiles nodded, gulping her coffee, the heat stinging her throat.

‘When did the cuffs happen?’ Milena asked.

‘Things… escalated after that,’ Stiles said. ‘Lydia and I started defying Scott. We aren’t technically pack members so there wasn’t anything he could do when we didn’t follow orders. We still helped. Even if we don’t trust them all we still care about most of the pack. Eight months ago, another pack came to Beacon Hills to try and claim the territory for themselves. They came at first as a roaming pack, claiming they wanted to make an alliance with the McCall Pack, but I could feel something off about the Alpha. I told Scott as much, told him not to trust her but he did. And it all blew up in our faces.’

Lydia leant over and clasped Stiles’ hand in her own, giving it a squeeze.

‘The Alpha and her pack asked for a meet in the preserve,’ Stiles continued. ‘For the Hales it would be a great place for protection. The magic out there recognises Hale bloodlines. Rachel told Scott that because Peter was his creator the magic would recognise him as well and protect him and his pack. I tried to tell him that the magic wouldn’t do that. It recognised Hale blood or direct pack, not Hale bites. He didn’t listen. Turned out the meet was a ruse to get the pack in a secluded area away from town, and the visiting pack was a lot bigger than we initially thought. They attacked the pack. There were a lot of initial injuries and it was clear we were losing. So, I stopped them.’

The Hale pack glanced at each other before Miguel asked, ‘how did you stop them?’

‘Think about your pack bonds,’ Stiles said. ‘What do they feel like to you?’

‘They’re like tethers,’ Isaac said. ‘They link us together and to Derek.’

‘And power flows between you,’ Stiles said, nodding. ‘That’s why Alphas are driven to make packs if they don’t have one. The bond craves stability and for stability you need power, betas. Obviously good packs are built on more than power, they’re built on more than the pack bonds, but the pack bonds act as a conduit for that power. It can be transferred from Alpha to Beta and back again. It’s probably most clearly seen when Alphas help their Betas to heal from an injury.’

‘Like when I healed Cora,’ Derek said nodding. ‘The transference of power meant I didn’t have enough power left to be an Alpha.’

‘Essentially, yes,’ Stiles said. ‘But you would find when you regained your Alpha powers that it was also easier for you to subdue the Alpha you were fighting. That kind of power transference for healing makes the Alpha spark fade, it doesn’t get rid of it completely.’

‘How does this explain what happened to the invading pack?’ Milo asked.

‘Because it was the pack bonds I used to stop them. I didn’t snap them exactly, so it wasn’t like losing a pack member. It was more like I unravelled them.’

‘You picked apart a pack?’ Milena asked, awe in her voice. ‘Just by thinking about it?’

‘More or less,’ Stiles said, nodding. ‘I subdued the Alpha first, pinned her to the floor. It was easier to access the pack bonds if I was in contact with her. I essentially made the whole pack Omegas, then I took the Alpha Spark from the Alpha and then her wolf Spark. Layer by layer until she was human again. Once she was Scott negotiated for the Omegas to leave and never come back. The Alpha he gave an ultimatum to and she left as well with her tail between her legs.’

‘And then Scott turned on you,’ Lydia said quietly.

Stiles nodded, the thought of what had happened the night Scott betrayed her making the tears which she had been holding back finally fall down her face.

‘What happened Stiles?’ Derek asked, his voice dangerously soft and quiet.

‘He umm…’ Stiles forced herself to take a deep breath, stumbling over the sob that was ripped from her throat. ‘I don’t know exactly how it happened, but somehow Rachel managed to convince Scott that I and my magic were an unknown quantity, an unstoppable and uncontrollable dark force. She told him about the Council of Witches, about what they would do if a witch had done to innocents what I had done to that pack.’

‘What she didn’t mention to Scott,’ Lydia seethed. ‘Was that if the other pack had brought Stiles before the Council of Witches for what she did firstly they couldn’t do anything because she’s not a witch, and secondly under pack law Stiles was justified because they were threatening her packmates. They wouldn’t have done anything.’

Stiles nudged Lydia who just looked at her before glancing at the floor, fury clear on her face.

‘As I was saying, Rachel convinced Scott that I could be a danger to the pack,’ Stiles continued. ‘It was late at night, Lydia was at work and I hadn’t been expecting any visitors. Scott had his own key to the house that Lydia and I own, he has one to everyone’s homes.’ Stiles tried to blink away her tears before continuing. ‘I was doing some cleaning, had my earphones in. The only warning I got was the wards around the house rippling when Scott, Theo, Rachel and Liam walked over them, just like they do for every pack member. I thought it was Lydia coming home. To be honest I don’t really remember most of what happened. I remember Scott telling me that I had to be controlled so I didn’t endanger the pack. I tried to talk to him. I didn’t notice Liam and Theo coming in the back door. They pinned me to the floor, Scott passed his judgement and then Rachel said something that I now know to be the binding spell before clasping this thing on my wrist. After that everything is just a black hole in my memory. After that it was just pain.’

‘I felt something while at work,’ Lydia said, taking over when Stiles’ voice broke at the memories. ‘The pack bond between Stiles and I had never disappeared, even when we disconnected Scott’s pack. I nearly passed out at work from the pain that came down the bond. It felt like a piece of my soul was being ripped from me. I made excuses of illness and went home. When I got there, I found Sheriff Parrish on the floor of our living room holding Stiles. She was screaming so loud that I thought my eardrums would burst. Jordan told me he had gotten a call about a noise disturbance and when he realised the address he had rushed over here. The front door was open, and he had found Stiles on her own. They left her, on her own, in agony. Eventually she passed out.’

‘And when I woke up it was gone,’ Stiles said quietly. ‘It used to be like a blanket, my Spark. Like a tingling under my skin. Now there’s just nothing, a constant ache for something my body is looking for but can’t find.’

‘How long did you say that you’ve had it on?’ Milena asked, concern clear in her voice.

‘Almost eight months,’ Stiles said.

Milena and Milo exchanged a glance before looking back at Stiles.

‘But Stiles, if you’ve had it for eight months you shouldn’t…’

‘I know,’ Stiles whispered. ‘I talked to Deaton about it. Although he isn’t an Emissary anymore he still said he would help me. He told me that with a suppressor cuff on I’d be lucky to last the year.’

The room was silent for a second, so quiet the wolves could probably have heard a pin drop a mile away.

Cora suddenly piped up and said, ‘wait, you mean… you can’t mean.’

‘It’s killing her,’ Lydia said, not dancing around the subject. ‘The suppressor cuff was designed for witches who look for outside sources of magic. When Rachel put it on Stiles she literally cut Stiles off from her life source.’

‘I barely eat,’ Stiles said. ‘Anything I do eat I find hard to keep down. I’ve lost weight. I have nightmares that are so much more than just left-over ones from the Nogitsune. I get headaches, stomach-aches. I can’t get warm. The cuff is literally smothering me to death.’

‘Why haven’t you done anything about it?’ Derek growled, his eyes flashing between red and green. ‘Why hasn’t Scott done anything about it?’

‘They can’t do anything about it,’ Milo said, answering for Stiles. ‘Suppressor cuffs can only be released by the castor who placed them.’

‘And Rachel won’t take it off,’ Lydia said. ‘We’ve taken her and Scott books worth of evidence, but they don’t believe us. They won’t remove it, because they’re too afraid of what they don’t understand.’

‘So, what you’re telling me,’ Derek said, clenching his hands in front of him. ‘Is that you’ve had this thing on for eight months. It’s slowly killing you. Statistically you only have another four months to live at most and your best friend is refusing to take of the thing that he put there that’s going to end your life.’

Stiles’ smile was grim.

‘We told you that it was worse than you probably thought.’

Derek sighed, closing his eyes briefly. Stiles could see the red fading behind his eyelids before he opened them again and looked at her.

‘So, what do we do?’ he asked.

Stiles shrugged.

‘I don’t know,’ she said. ‘Scott has complete control of Beacon Hills. The moment he realises you’re here he’ll probably try and run you out of town.’

‘We’re not leaving,’ Cora cut in quickly, making Lydia smirk. ‘We came back to stay, and an upstart _True Alpha_ with a huge ego isn’t going to change that.’

Just as Cora finished speaking both Lydia and Stiles’ phones chimed.

‘Is that him?’ Miguel asked softly.

Stiles nodded, ‘he’s checking in to see where we are.’

Stiles took a moment to reply that she couldn’t sleep so had gone for a walk with Lydia, checking to make sure her response matched Lydia’s, before putting her phone back in her pocket.

‘We shouldn’t hang around for much longer,’ Lydia said, also pocketing her phone. ‘If he’s checking in, he might come to the house. We need to get rid of your scents or he’ll get suspicious.’

‘We need a plan,’ Derek said quietly. ‘If Scott is going to challenge us for our right to these lands then we need to be prepared.’

Stiles nodded, standing.

‘We’ll try to keep you informed as much as possible,’ she said. ‘Don’t be surprised if there’s some time between our replies. When Scott finds out you’re back in town he’ll probably up his control, try to keep us in line.’

‘In the meantime,’ Milena said, ‘Milo and I will try and research to find out if we can get that thing off your wrist.’

Stiles smiled softly, feeling a warmth in her chest that she hadn’t in a long time.

‘Thank you,’ she said softly, tears brimming at the edge of her eyes.

When she turned to leave she felt a soft grip on her wrist. Turning back she came face to face with Derek, his green gaze boring into her.

‘We’ll fix this,’ he said quietly.

Stiles nodded.

‘I know,’ she replied, meaning it.

Something sparked in Derek’s eyes, but Stiles didn’t let herself think about it as she pulled herself from Derek’s grip, following Lydia out of the house and heading for home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since my last update on this story. I'm writing it while also trying to do a Masters dissertation and draft a novel so bear with me. I will update whenever I manage to write more of it but I can't make any promises just now. Hope this chapter tides you over until next time. Thanks for reading!


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